


The Greatest Moments of The Marauder's Lives and Loves, Until the Very End.

by susiekinnz



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling, The Marauders - Fandom
Genre: After Hogwarts, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Hogwarts Sixth Year, M/M, Slow Burn, The Marauders - Freeform, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:40:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28751583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/susiekinnz/pseuds/susiekinnz
Summary: Beginning with their Hogwarts Express journey on September 1st of the Marauder's, Lily Evans', and Severus Snape's fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, we follow behind each student's actions as they move through the rest of their school careers, confusing relationships, life after Hogwarts, and the consequences of doing it all during a war.External threats are only growing, and the Marauders can see this creeping inside of Hogwarts through Sirius' brother, Regulus, and Severus Snape's increasingly dangerous choices. Yet, they can remain as children until they graduate; James must deal with Lily's rejection just as she has to deal with his and Severus' unwanted attention, Peter can learn to value himself as more than just the runt of the litter, Severus must find out what he really wants in life, and Sirius and Remus must deal with all of this all while grappling with their rising feelings for each other in a world which, magical or no, does not like that they love who they love.Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore may be slightly off his rocker, but he is the only thing that stands between them, and the real world. Until the world collects them anyway.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, James Potter/Original Female Character(s), Lily Evans Potter/Original Male Character(s), Peter Pettigrew/Original Female Character(s), Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter, Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin





	The Greatest Moments of The Marauder's Lives and Loves, Until the Very End.

**Author's Note:**

> No love to J.K. Rowling ~ Trans rights are human rights. 
> 
> T.W. - Homophobia, parental abuse/neglect, death, and the same allegorical references to n*ziism as the Death Eaters were in the original novels.

The Marauders

Fifth Year – The Hogwarts Express

_Lily_

September the first is a god-awful day for almost all the children in the UK, as they have to put down their toys and say goodbye to free time, as they crawl back into itchy school uniforms and regulated snacking schedules for their first day of school after the limitless expanse of the summer holidays.

The sentiment is not much different for the small collection of magical teenagers that wound themselves amongst the muggles on the platforms nine and ten in Kings Cross Station. Most of the magical children held up their Hogwarts education on the grounds of it being something that their parents made them do against their will every year, the only plus side being the spectacular meals and the usual knowledge that mortal peril sat literally just around every corner. For the muggle born few, or those who’s childhoods had mostly been surrounded by the muggle world, there could be no greater gift after a long and enjoyable rest period, than to journey back to the hallowed halls of magic and mystery that Hogwarts housed.

Lily Evans was among the few muggleborns on the platform this early autumn morning, and her feelings about her fifth year of schooling seemed to cause an iron bound excitement somewhere deep in her chest. As was usual, she was ecstatic to return. Her parents were buzzing about her, meeting and greeting the magical parents that they remembered from last year, and practically hooting with glee as they watched the school children excitedly using magic of the first time ever, or the first time since the last school year ended. Their enthusiasm pushed her own excitement up into her throat. The only thing that held it down was her older sister, Petunia, who was doing her best to prove that she had only come because their parents made her. But her eyes betrayed her as they danced about the platform nine and three-quarters after all the loud noises and colours and the excited happy faces, something in her so clearly wanting to join in. Lily could not count the number of letters she had found that Petunia had clearly written to Dumbledore in Lily's second and third years, begging him to take her too, but to no avail. The wedge that had been lodged in the middle of the sister’s relationship for five years was very clearly magic-shaped, and immoveable.

As well as her sister’s attitude keeping Lily’s excitement contained, the resolution of duty also held it there. Exams were this year. Big exams. The exams that picked a career for you in the magical world. If she didn’t get good O.W.L’s, then she’d have to go back to a muggle school and do muggle exams and get a muggle career and that would be it. Book closed story over. Lily would not accept that. She had had a taste of honey and she was not going back. Absolutely nothing would stand in the way of the exciting future that awaited her in the magical world.

She had never wanted, and never would want a job in a muggle bank, she could scarcely think of anything more mundane. But she had been doing some article scanning in the daily prophet over the break, and had come across the employment section, and read about magical curse breakers and treasure hunters for Gringotts bank, and oh dear lord she would sell her soul to the devil for an adventure like that. The opportunity to work with goblins, learn about their magic, their history, culture and beliefs, as well as travel to different countries and learn about their magical cultures and traditions all while risking her life and limb for buried treasure. A magical pirate? Yes indeed. Lily Evans was on board.

Her mother finished her daydreaming state of gazing about the platform and finally managed to turn back to Lily, and began the exact same usual ramblings of; ‘have you got your toothbrush, hair brush, lots of school robes, socks, pants…?’ etc. 

Her father began requesting magical sweets from Honeydukes, ‘I like the ones that move! But not if they look too real, then it feels rather sad to eat them…’

Petunia gave her an awkward and forced hug and said nothing, Lily just whispered a “see you soon”, and made a mental note to send her as many chocolate frogs as she could find, she had found a collection of the cards stashed in a pair of old, unworn shoes in the bottom of Petunia's wardrobe this summer after Lily had brought her back a bunch of the sweets several years prior.

They said their goodbyes, and her parents gave her big crushing hugs before waving her onto the train, and waiting on the platform for it to start rolling away. Lily clambered on with her trunk and began shuffling awkwardly down the narrow passageway in the middle of the compartments. She took her time moving along, waving to friends and acquaintances from other houses as she went. She shot a hair-lengthening jinx at a blond-haired Slytherin boy named Caleb Buckthorn who gave her a suggestive wink as she passed while all his friends roared with laughter. Their laughter was quickly redirected to Caleb as he desperately attempted to regain composure while his hair and eyebrows grew longer and longer, past his chin and down to his elbows before Lily was even out of sight of the compartment.

Finally, Lily neared her and her friends’ usual compartment, she wiggled inside with her trunk so she could put it away before making her way to the Prefects cabin for the beginning of the journey. As she turned back to lift her trunk, she came face to face with a dark-haired idiot that made her curse out loud.

*******

_James_

James Potter was feeling goddamn excellent.

He marched onto that train platform with a swing in his step and a new found confidence making him stand just that extra bit taller than he normally might. Now, James Potter was one cocky bastard, but this year it seemed extreme, even for him. But there was good reason for this new attitude, or well, there was to him.

This summer a number of important things had happened; number one, he had grown out his hair, and with the help of his father’s expertise and the family fortune in his magical hair product, he had perfected the wind-swept, shaggy mane, sex-god, don’t care, casual but suave, messy but purposeful hair swoop. Number two, he had grown, and a lot, he was six foot and half an inch now, and people were noticing, family, friends, neighbourhood girls, and it was doing wonders (or horrors, depending on how you look at it) for his self-confidence. Number three, he had kissed three girls over the holidays. He had been saving his first kiss for Lily Potter when she inevitably came to her senses and realised that James was the perfect man, but Sirius had raised an issue with this; Lily had been seen snogging Cameron Robinson after last year’s Christmas feast, and therefore she definitely knew how to kiss, and James, although saintly for his abstinence from the act of snogging for the sake of his true love, was direly underprepared. So, James had taken Sirius’ advice, and got some snogging down before he saw his love again.

He kissed Penny Landers, one of the muggle girls in his town under a bridge on the edge of said town. He thought it went rather well, but she seemed to think otherwise as she slapped him round the sides of the head when he gave her a form to fill out on the kissing experience and how he might improve for other girls. After this he enlisted the help of the other Marauders, and they simply cornered the other two unfortunate muggle girls after their snogs with James and were asked a series of questions by a very focussed and thorough Sirius, and an all-too excited Peter. Remus threatened to kill him if James attempted to ask him to have any part in this endeavour.

But now, James was a man. He had the advice he needed; too much tongue, and don’t snort while you kiss, and he was ready to tackle the lips of one unfortunate Lily Evans. He was certain his physical appearance was the best it had ever been, and she would therefore find him irresistible. Nothing could stop him now.

James’ mother gave him a big hug that possibly cracked a few ribs and actually lifted him off the ground, which was quite a feat, considering James was now a fair bit taller than her. James’ father stuck out his hand, and James paused, before taking it and giving it a firm shake, but his father let out a wail and pulled James into his chest as tightly as he could, nearly suffocating him.

“Oh! You’re getting so old!” He cried, as he hugged James. This was a usual experience at the platform, and James did his best to give his mother a knowing smile while his face was being smothered against his father’s chest, as it was always a guessing game of how long Mr Potter would hold it together before losing it over how old James had become.

“I know! I know dad!” James wrenched himself from his father’s arms “I’ve got to get on now, so just- save the tears for seventh year, ok?”

Mr Potter nodded and stood back, with a watery grin and an arm around his wife as they allowed James to board the train, and waited for him to sit by the window so they could wave him off.

James made a great show of carrying his large trunk onto the train, making sure everyone saw, and everyone knew that he, James Potter, was expertly carrying a rather heavy trunk with exceptional strength. This did get a bit of attention from some fourth-year girls who began excitedly whispering to each other and gave him a bunch of giddy smiles from the platform. James flashed the handsomest grin he could muster at them, one he had also been practicing all summer, and beamed when they burst into fits of excited and flirtatious giggles. He pulled his trunk down the walkway and into his compartment where he loaded it into the overhead shelves for safekeeping. He was the first in the Marauders compartment, and was not about to sit there and wait for the others to join, he would at least need Peter to be sitting waiting for him before he made his grand entrance. He stood up, waiting for an idea of what to do, when one walked right past his compartment: Lily Potter.

With dark red hair and a smile like she had just done something deviant, she was like walking sex. And that was a lot coming from Mr James Potter, who considered himself to be the only person who was worthy of such a title. As she passed, he saw the deviance that had just occurred, as the Slytherin sixth-year compartment just across from his housed Caleb Buckthorn, who had been obsessed with Lily since third year. James really thought it was disturbing and quite wrong that someone could make someone else feel so uncomfortable by not taking their hints. He was therefore pleased to see that Lily had left the boy with hair growing rapidly down past his knees.

James hurried out of his compartment and began pushing past the people in the corridor to get to the compartment he had memorised to be Lily’s. She was there with her trunk, getting ready to put it away, and James swooped in, ready to knock her off her feet, and preparing himself for her proclamations of love that would likely ensue from this very moment onwards until they died together surrounded by hundreds of their grandchildren.

Lily turned around to grab her trunk and screamed out when she saw James standing there.

“Son of a bitch!” She yelled. Not quite what he had been hoping for. Perhaps she was in shock. “Potter,” she accused him, James felt a little wronged that she was yet to call him by his first name, but nevertheless, he was sure he was winning her over any day now.

“Evans” He beamed as he spoke, then tried his best to whittle it back down to his handsome smirk. “Let me get your trunk for you, it looks heavy” he grabbed the handle and swung the trunk around dramatically, showing off to an extent that was impressive for the amount of ridiculous exaggeration he put into it.

“I’m alright-” Lily grabbed the case off of him, “thanks” she proceeded to load the trunk away herself, and attempted to do so as smoothly as possible, hiding the fact that the considerable height difference between her and James meant that really he was more suited to putting this away for her. But she was determined to not give him such satisfaction, so she worked despairingly to wrench it over her head, hoping all the while that James might take the hint and leave her alone.

“I trust you had a splendid summer then?” James drawled, his new found arrogance reaching his voice and somehow making him sound like an old Victorian woman. Lily grimaced as she realised James was still there and continued to do her strange dance of attempting to get the trunk into the overhead holding.

“It was satisfactory” she grumbled through gritted teeth.

“Wonderful!” James pronounced, “mine too. I trust you see something different about me?” He asked, trying to bite down on the excitement in his voice as he pulled out the handsome smirk and stood as tall as he could. Lily just needed to be pointed in the direction of his general handsomeness, and then she would simply throw herself at him, and they could continue the school year as it was meant to be. He expected she’d probably want to snog him for the remainder of the train ride, so he’d have to find a way of warning the other Marauders not to be too alarmed when he didn’t show up in their compartment.

Lily gave up putting the trunk overhead and turned to look at him with a quizzical expression on her face. She scanned him up and down for a moment (James attempted to flex every muscle in his body as she did so) and then said “You’re using surprisingly big words for your usual vocabulary” James blinked, a little confused, “sounds like you’ve swallowed a dictionary, you trying to impress someone Potter?”

James wasn’t quite sure how to reply, because yes, he had been using larger words in an attempt to impress her, but he had been certain that she would have already been impressed by now. The plan didn’t seem to be working, he wasn’t really sure why. He needed backup. Someone intelligent. Someone who knew what he was doing.

“Can I help you with your trunk Lily?” came a soft voice from behind James.

James wheeled around to see the doorway full of a lanky, well over six-foot, scarred but pleasant faced, werewolf.

*******

_Remus_

Remus Lupin was very, very, tired.

He had had only one resting day since the last full moon and it was still taking its toll on him. He had fresh scars across his face and neck that had not healed properly, he had not managed to sleep last night, or the night before due to night terrors keeping him up, and every muscle in his body ached.

His father was not doing his best at looking contented, and seemed almost as drained as Remus was, his hair flecked with grey that hadn’t been there at the beginning of the summer, and lines across his forehead that had appeared far too early for a man his age. Remus’ mother was doing a much better job, walking arm in arm with her son as her husband pushed the trolley with the trunk on it. She was actually holding Remus up a bit, but doing her best to make it seem as though nothing was wrong. People already looked at the Lupins strangely after a full moon, wondering what they had done to their son to leave him covered in claw marks and bashed and bruised, so it was best that they didn’t leave Remus to limp to the station on his own.

Remus was long since past running through the wall dividing platforms nine and ten, so the family of three continued to stroll along like nothing was amiss, walking through the crowds of muggles and then the wall, and appearing on the other side in the clouds of steam billowing from the train and the smoke and lights from the excited plumes of magic that emanated from the mostly unsupervised children. Mr Lupin wound through the crowd ahead and made his way onto the train as conspicuously as possible, unloading his son’s belongings into the compartment that Remus had instructed him belonged to the Marauders.

His mother now turned to sit with him on a bench at the back of the platform. She looked incredibly sorrowful, and reached up to comb some of his mousey brown hair away from his eye, where she could see a scar in a harsher light.

“I’m so sorry darling, I would do anything to push this first day back for you…”

Remus shook his head “I don’t want you to ask Dumbledore to let me come late, people already think it’s weird when I miss class, I don’t need them to have another reason to find out what’s wrong with me”

“ _Nothing_ is wrong with you Remus, nothing at all. You’re just… a bit sick… at the moment, but they’ll find a cure one day, I just know it”

“Right. Sure. Thanks mum”

She let out a soft ‘tut’ and rearranged his hair over the scar once more, then leant her head on his shoulder as they watched Remus’ father trot back across the platform towards them. “You write to me every week now. Every week. And if that Snape boy tries to follow you at the full moon again, I give you full permission to punch him unconscious”

“Mum!” Remus exclaimed, looking around quickly to see if the Snape family were near, god knows they would take any sign of threat as a reason to dispose of someone like him.

“Oh fine, well, tell Sirius that he’s allowed to punch the boy if he does something rude to you again, I know Sirius won’t object,”

“Yes, well unlike me, Sirius operates on a moral code of entirely his own making”

“A good boy,” Mrs Lupin said nodding, “Invite him to Christmas with us this year if he wants, the others too, you always want to stay together at Hogwarts but I just fancy one year of you all at home before you leave school, ok?”

“I’ll invite them, but I think Sirius is wanted at home, James too, they both have big family parties being organised this year, we won’t ever be invited to the Blacks, not because Sirius wouldn’t want us to be, but I recon we could go to the Potters”

“Oh, how lovely, and we can bring Peter along, poor thing will need someone to take him, I recon he’d get lost if he was left to himself”

Remus smiled at the thought of his friends and the Christmas parties that would be approaching soon this year. He did fret for Sirius though, trapped at home in that big black hole of a manor, with only his little brother for company, he’d be miserable, and Remus would miss him. Maybe James, Peter and him could sneak him out if they tried hard enough. Who knows? They’ll discuss it on the train of course.

His father arrived back in front of them and clapped his hands together. “Time to go then? I left a sleeping draught rolled up in your socks, should last you the first week if you need it. Just ask Madam Pomfrey if you want more.”

“Thanks Dad” Remus stood up and gave his father a short-lived hug, before turning to his mother and hugging her also, relishing the feeling of her tight squeeze and planting a quick kiss on the top of her head, Remus had also grown over the summer, and was now a full head taller than both his parents who seemed tiny standing beside him.

“See you for Christmas then?” his father said as Remus turned to leave, Remus nodded and bobbed his head from side to side as if to say ‘we’ll see’.

“Every week, remember!” His mother called as he made his way onto the train, “I want to see an owl from you every week!” Remus waved to them from the train door, and ducked inside.

His trunk was in the Marauders’ compartment waiting for him, so that was sorted. He would start the journey in the Prefects compartment, so he should make his way along there. But he didn’t want to go alone, the Slytherin Prefects had taken to tormenting him about his weakened appearance whenever they caught him alone, and he simply was not up to dealing with the abuse by himself. He needed someone to lean on, someone who knew what was actually the matter and would defend him.

Remus began wandering the corridors in search of Lily Evans.

Lily was the other Gryffindor prefect in their year, and had discovered Remus’ lycanthrope two years prior, simply by noticing the pattern in the moon as it coincided with the absences from his classes, of which they shared the same schedule, and observing the fresh scars that covered him each time. She hadn’t even been scared when she found out, she simply whispered across their cauldrons during a potions class in third year and asked him whether he was a werewolf. She had taken his look of fear and horror to mean ‘yes’ and proceeded to hand him a small file of a potion she had made in a study period that was meant to help with wounds from magical creatures. Of course, Remus had easy access to such a potion from Madam Pomfrey, but it was the gesture that truly mattered to him, and he was forever grateful. After the Marauders left the hospital wing following a full moon, Lily would immediately follow him in with buckets of sweets waiting, she only came in after because she wanted as little time in the same room as James as was physically possible, and Remus didn’t blame her. The only person that would visit him more than her was Sirius, who would sit on the end of his bed and talk about the various misdeeds the rest of the Marauders had got up to in his absence. Sometimes Remus felt that the days after a full moon were the best days of his life. At least while he had the Marauders and Lily.

He found his way to the compartment Lily was most commonly in, and realised she was as much in need of his help as he was in need of hers.

The grand high idiot himself, James Potter, had cornered her in there, and was clearly attempting to seduce her. He was putting to work various stupid flirting techniques that he had been ‘perfecting’ over the summer with the help of the Marauders. Remus had opted out in favour of reading a book on defence against the dark arts that he was to be studying this year at school. Although he had watched the train wrecks occasionally and had been highly entertained when James got slapped across the face by a muggle girl.

“Can I help you with your trunk Lily?” He asked quietly from the doorway.

Lily’s face lit up at the sight of her saviour, and James wheeled around so fast Remus thought he might have snapped his neck.

“Please” Lily said with a smile, and she stepped out of the way so Remus could pick up the case. James was shooting daggers out his eyes at Remus, desperately trying to signal to him to leave, that this was going so well, that he had nearly made Lily fall in love with him. Remus rolled his eyes at him.

“I was just doing that Remus, there was no need-”

“Oh, were you now? I figured I might be more help given how short you are”

James let out an indignant squeal that he attempted to turn into a manly cough, “I’ll have you know that I am over six foot-”

“Whatever you say James _deer_ ,” Remus said, he reached down and lifted Lily’s trunk, but his arm shook for a moment and he dropped it back down. He could feel his face growing slightly red with embarrassment. Lily and James both looked anxiously at Remus, suddenly realising they had both forgotten how soon past the full moon they were. All three of them opted to lift the trunk together without a word, no one mentioned that Remus hadn’t done it by himself.

“Thanks Remus,” Lily said, with a bright smile. James shuffled awkwardly, wanting some praise for himself but not wishing to make it more apparent that Remus had needed help.

“Shall we get to the Prefects cabin?” He asked, and she nodded, awkwardly shuffling by James.

“Later Potter,” She barked without so much as a backwards glance, and she strode out of the compartment.

“I’ll come back and sit with you after we’re freed from moral duty, ok?” Remus said to James,

“Excellent, put in a good word with Lily for me? Mention how attractive and kind I’ve become, and how much I’ve matured over the summer, you can also tell her how many girls tried to snog me if you want”

“Nothing would make me happier”

“Marvellous, you’re doing God’s work, Moony, God’s work” Remus rolled his eyes and made to leave after Lily, but James grabbed him by the arm. “Remus,” his voice dropped to a whisper “the full moon- how are you feeling?"

Remus paused. He did not at all wish to answer this question. In fact, he had rather hoped that his current condition might be ignored, but he knew his friends and he was grateful for them, and James was not about to just let him go without making sure he was somewhat ok.

“Bad, but I’ll live”

“That’s something… I’ll get you some sweets from the trolley lady”

“Cheers, see you in a minute” and he ducked out of the compartment after Lily.

He hurried along so he could fall into step with her, which didn’t take long given the significant difference in height. She glanced up at him as he arrived next to her and looked back over her shoulder to see if James was still following.

“God, he doesn’t give up does he?” She sighed, brushing her hair back from her face with both hands.

“Afraid not, no” Remus agreed, he paused, cringing at what he was about to say, and thinking about how Lily was going to probably hate him if he continued to bend to James’ will “But have you noticed how tall and – erm – attractive he’s gotten over the summer?”

“Pardon?”

“Yes, very mature and kind, also, I’d say, he had several people wanting to snog him this summer”

“Blind were they?” Lily scathed, “I dunno Remus, sounds like you fancy him, why not give the two of you a go?”

Remus felt his neck going a bit red, “He’s not particularly my type” he paused, and Lily burst out into a fit of badly contained giggles, “Alright, sorry, I had to say that, James wants me to put in a good word”

“That’s alright-” she stopped walking abruptly and wheeled around to face him so she was dead in front of him, “But if you ever again force me to hear about how bloody ‘sexy’ James Potter is, any more than I already have to from him, I will put a permanent sticking charm on your face to his arse and force you to kiss it until one of you dies”

“Somehow I only think that’ll make his ego bigger- I don’t doubt you will though, consider this the last you hear of James’ abs from me, although they are incredibly defined as of late- oof!” He doubled over slightly as Lily lightly socked him in the stomach.

Before either of them could get up and move onwards, someone behind Remus cleared their throat-

“Hi Lily”

Lily craned her neck to look over Remus’ shoulder. “Oh, hey Sev, good summer?” A slight coldness hung in the air as they talked, and Remus turned apprehensively to face the only other student than the Marauders and Lily who had any interest in the reality of his secret. He looked into the cold, greasy face of a young terrorist in the making and tried not to recoil, knowing that the next thing this boy said would only remind him of how broken he was as a person.

With a hissing sneer the boy addressed him, “Love what you’ve done with your face there, wolf” the last word was spat out with the disgust Remus could only presume Severus felt a werewolf deserved.

*******

_Severus_

Severus Snape was, admittedly, not the nicest person.

But he felt this was a flaw he, of all people, deserved, his father had dropped him off at the station, his mother wasn’t there to see him off that morning, and the car drove away with a simple, half-hearted goodbye. His mother was working, and had she have been able to come to the station, she might have spent more time in seeing him off. But he wasn’t to be concerned, in his third year he hadn’t even received a lift, instead having to get on ordinary London transport with an owl and an old trunk, all while wearing his father’s ill-fitting hand-me-downs. Granted being dropped at the station in the same situation didn’t make much difference for the staring, but the amount of time it would have to be endured for was considerably lowered.

He found a trolley and began desperately trying to shove the trunk onto it, but it was extraordinarily heavy this year, and he seemed to be failing miserably until a muggle family wandered over and offered their assistance. Snape despised the idea that he would take help from the non-wizards, but he was failing miserably on his own, and there were no magic folk around to assist him, so he grunted an agreement and stood back with as disgusted of an expression as he could manage. He left without thanking them and dashed away as the mother yelled at him to be grateful.

With an excited run at the platforms nine and ten barrier, Severus arrived in his first taste of the wizarding world in months, and lord it was like a breath of fresh air. Home was barely magical at all, despite his mother being a witch. His father was disturbed by their magic, and banned it from the household, not even allowing him and his mother to talk about Severus’s schooling or his future. This as well, meant that Severus was not to send, nor expect to receive, any owls this year, as he once sent one in his first year as he saw the other children doing, and received nothing back all year, and upon returning home found his father threatening, at the other end of a fire poker, to throw him out should he embarrass him in front of the neighbours again.

So, Severus was alone all summer, except for his secret communication with his two new friends. Mulciber and Avery were two boys in Severus’ dorm since the beginning of his school career. At first, they had bullied him along with the rest, for all the usual reasons; his half-blood status, his greasy hair, hooked nose and altogether wiry appearance, and his rather miserable and unsociable attitude. They had never been very kind to him. Never. But, just last year, they had begun to be rather interested in Snape’s late-night escapades through the castle, and, upon discovering his practicing and creating of dark spells, they invited him to sit with them at lunch. Ever since, the three boys found themselves to be in a very special kind of group. Not necessarily friends, but sharing a bond forged in dark magic and exploring the power of pure magical blood, they had a connection that Severus felt with no one else. This summer they had finally attempted to keep in contact with him, as he explained to them to send owls only very late at night, or to a small group of trees beside a park near his house. There they shared the research they had been doing in creating a new spell, one that would cause excruciating pain but leave no mark, as well as deviating from the illegal cruciatus curse.

Severus was itching to use his wand again and begin practical work on the spell, and he couldn’t wait to meet with Mulciber and Avery, as they had promised him a seat on the train. Yet, his only regret twinged at his stomach as he hurried along the platform to the train door.

He had scarcely written to Lily over the summer, and heard little back. She had been his best friend, and he still hoped she was, but last year, they had had an argument about the idiotic band of Gryffindor twats who called themselves the ‘Marauders’. Lily had told him what she thought of his new friends, and warned him to steer clear of them. And yet, he couldn’t. They understood him, and sympathised with his anger towards the muggles, like his father, and the control they orchestrated over the magical world. How they forced wizards and witches into hiding, and subconsciously controlled them. And why? When wizards were so much more powerful.

Mulciber and Avery had parents who were Death Eaters, and they both said that they would most likely join them once they were old enough to leave school. At first the thought scared Severus, but now, as he thought about how the rest of the world treated him, and then compared it to how Mulciber and Avery treated him, there seemed to be a position for him within the Death Eaters that was far more correct. As well, when he was there, he might be allowed to torture James Potter as much as he liked.

Snape clambered onto the train, dragging his trunk along with him. He looked through every door, hunting for Mulciber and Avery, he hoped they kept their word and allowed him to sit with them, even when their friends thought so very little of Severus. As he marched along, he found the compartment where his two companions sat, to his dismay he also noted two other things; they were sitting with Caleb Buckthorn and some of his loyal goonies as well, and they were sitting the compartment across from the Marauders.

Severus attempted to stifle a groan. This was going to be rather miserable. But, as he was being beckoned inside the sixth-year Slytherin boy’s compartment, he noticed something up ahead that nearly made him throw up over his shoes.

Lily Evans was standing just a few compartments down from him, with a smirk across her lips that made everything else in the world go hazy. Yes, Severus had new friends, and yes, Lily would probably never approve of them, but maybe, just maybe, there was a chance he could change her mind this year. Either way, he wasn’t about to just forget her. He wasn’t sure he was able to just forget her. So, he dropped his trunk and ambled down the passage towards where she stood talking to some ridiculously tall boy.

“Hi Lily” He breathed out. Rather pathetic, he cursed himself silently. Why must he always sound so needy when he was near her? But it was all worth it when she turned and looked at him and the smirk broke out into a wide smile.

“Oh, hey Sev,” A hot fuzzy trail passed from his brain all the way around his body and into his chest at her nickname for him, “good summer?”

Severus didn’t think he had ever been so excited to talk to a person in his life, and he had so much he wanted to tell her about his summer and all the things he had done. But then he remembered he couldn’t, because she wouldn’t like it at all. And just as all these thoughts were racing through his head, Lily’s companion turned around to see who was behind him, and Severus realised who it was for the first time.

Severus stared into the face of Lupin and felt the disgusting injustice of the situation that was the boy in front of him. Lupin had, on several occasions, accompanied Lily to try to speak to him about blood-purity, and had felt that they should get along and understand each other, given their half-blood status. And that knowledge that he might have anything in common with this creature continued to disgust him. Severus was almost certain of something, it had been his other project that had consumed his summer months; Remus Lupin regularly left class and for days at a time remained hidden in the hospital wing, he often saw him exiting the school building very late at night with Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall (if Severus managed to hide in the owlery without Filch finding him out of bed), only to return covered in claw marks. He would make remarks about Lupin's father being the reason for the scars and beating him and his mother, trying to gather a reaction. But he almost always got nothing in return. And so, he had had to do it the old-fashioned way; he stared at those scars across Lupin’s face, and then charts of the moon, and put two and two together and decided, that this man was a werewolf.

Yet, there was nothing to be done. As far as his mother was concerned, this was all incidental information until Severus actually saw Lupin transform, and so, he had to lie in wait for an opportunity to present itself, and focus on bigger things, like this spell.

But now, as he looked into the werewolf’s face, all he could think about was how he could have been expelled if only his mother cared a little more. And how this was a blood thirsty creature left to run loose over the school, and yet he was the one who was considered a freak. That this monster was allowed to be considered one of the ‘cool kids’ while he was detestable. And worse of all, Lily considered him a friend, and had doubts about Severus, simply because of who he chose to be friends with.

Anger boiled inside of him, and he forgot that Lily was also there as he spoke.

“Love what you’ve done with the face there, wolf”

Severus barely got to enjoy the fleeting image of defeat crossing the werewolf’s face that would only be chalked up to incidental before he was thrown backwards with an immense force. He landed hard, on his back, a long way down the corridor, with stars dancing in front of his eyes and his skin beginning to feel as though it were bubbling on his face.

“Bloody hell! Excellent work Evans!” A cry came from a nearby compartment, and the voice that emanated was the cocky, arrogant, idiotic drawl of one James Potter. A fury erupted inside Snape that he saved only for instances where he came across this particular idiot.

He pulled himself to his feet, his arms shaking with rage, and pulled his wand from his sock as he did so, waving it lazily to remove the heinous boils that Lily had set growing across his face and neck. He had been practicing non-verbal spells all of last year, even though they were sixth-year level, just in preparation for his next confrontation with the Marauders.

A slash of his wand sent a bright orange streak zipping in the direction of Potter’s stupid face, and the smarmy asshole doubled over, and began to vomit up a sizeable number of slugs.

The compartment full of Slytherin’s door flew open, and they all began cramming themselves into the passageway in order to get an eyeful of the action, they began to cheer as Severus sent another spell soaring in the direction of James. He felt rather pleased, as he moved past his feelings of hurt at Lily attacking him, that she opted not to help James Potter.

Lupin fumbled with the waistband of his jeans and finally pulled out a wand, just in time to throw up a shield between James and Severus. With another flick of his wand and mumble of a clearly verbal spell (Severus marked this as a point in his own favour), Potter let out a lazy belch and wiped his chin, rolling his shoulders back as he straightened up.

To Severus’ dismay, it seemed that James had also been practicing non-verbal spells as he gave his wand a swish and flick without a word escaping his lips. At first, nothing happened. Then, when it was all too late, Severus, and the rest of the Slytherin boys saw the pile of vomit slugs that sat at James’ feet soar from the ground straight towards their faces. There was no time to stop them, and their screams of horror and disgust echoed down the train carriage. All points must be erased, he was back to square one, but now, covered in slugs.

Everyone was now drawing their wands, and Lily was somewhere storming away from the scene, simply furious at all the idiotic boys in her life. But before anyone else could cast another spell, a cry came from somewhere behind the Slytherins-

“Stupify!”

And they all were flung backwards, downwards, and out of sight as the stunning spell battered through them unceremoniously with a power that Severus never saw, except from in the case of James Potter or one other self-absorbed asshole.

At the end of the corridor, stood a smirking, gloriously handsome, arrogant, prick. He strolled along, towards the chaos as Severus did his best to get to his feet and find his wand. But before he could do so, the boy stood over him, raised his fist, and punched him as hard as he could in the face.

*******

_Sirius_

Sirius Black was not having the best of times.

His parents had planned to drop Regulus at the train station as usual, and, as usual, they said Sirius was allowed a ride in the car, so long as he kept quiet.

Not wanting to have to bring an enormous trunk on the London underground, Sirius reluctantly agreed, and sat in silence all the way from Grimmauld Place to Kings Cross. Upon arriving, he dove from the car before it had even come to a full halt, and dashed around the back, popping the boot before the concierge could do it for him. He began to pull his belongings out and get as far away from his family as he could before they began to slander him again.

He had done it. He had suffered through a full year of their insults and abuse and Death Eater friends and propaganda and now he was given the best reward he could possibly ask for; a safe return back to Hogwarts. He was so nearly free of them forever. So close to being seventeen, where he would walk out of the doors of Hogwarts for the last time and not even return home for a second, but buy a house with the other Marauders using the stupid amounts of money his parents had stupidly given him as a baby that only he could access when he was seventeen, and they would live there until they knew what to do with themselves. The minute he was allowed to be free Sirius was taking it and running.

Of course, he felt sorry for only one reason; his little brother, Regulus. Regulus wasn’t quite corrupted by them just yet, and still had a good heart somewhere in there. Mostly the reason Sirius remained sane was to do with Regulus still keeping him relative company about the house. But he could see his parents beginning to sow seeds of doubt in the young mind, as Regulus asked more and more questions about the Death Eaters, Voldemort, and all of that side. His parents had never joined the dark forces, but they had certainly entertained the idea, only abstaining because of the ‘one-way-ticket’ policy, and their desire to remain able to float back to the winning side if needs be.

Despite this policy, they hated Sirius. Ever since he had begun to have opinions of his own, he had opposed them. He had been introduced to the children of Death Eaters at the age of ten and left to play in the muggle park. Sirius wasn’t sure he had ever seen anyone quite so angry as when his parents came back to find him playing with a group of muggle children.

But he had liked those kids, so he hadn’t cared. Instead he had decided to keep sneaking out and meeting them in the park. Every time his parents would catch him, and every time they would punish him. But Sirius knew there was nothing wrong, so he kept doing that, and much more, showing his parents little by little, that everything they stood for, Sirius stood against, and he would spend the rest of his life fighting them. 

Right now, he wasn’t standing ‘opposed’ to them, per se, but instead was fleeing to the other side of the station with a single ticket clutched in his hand. All he wanted was to reach that platform and get onto the train without having to see his parents disgusted expressions as they looked at him one more time. And lucky for him, his wish was granted. Sirius burst through the other side of the wall dividing platforms nine and ten with much gusto and a breath of relief. He had made it back.

Somewhere amongst the chaos were his friends. Sirius began to scan around for some sign of a familiar face, but found none of the other Marauders, only a few smiles and waves from other boys in his year, and maybe a giddy smile or two from another fifth-year girl.

Sirius threw out a smile at some of the girls, who promptly began giggling and whispering with their friends, and he began to mount the train, pulling his trunk and bird cage along with him.

The cage was full with his one friend from the summer; Jupiter, his horned owl. He had had Jupiter since he had turned eleven, and his parents had bought him from Diagon Alley. Naturally he was a signature shade of black. It did bother Sirius quite a bit that so many of his belongings were black, especially when you were trying to rebel. It's difficult to seem edgy and rebellious when that from which you are attempting to set yourself apart has already picked the edgiest colour there is. And Sirius was not one to associate himself with pastels.

But he loved Jupiter, the two were best friends, whenever James wasn’t around that is, and the large bird kept Sirius sane over the long periods of time when he was trapped around his family during the holidays.

But now that he was back? It was to be absolute chaos. No more sitting calmly by a window while Jupiter hunted. No more hoping for a letter from the Marauders. No more praying for his mother to keel over and die. Now it was time for anarchy to reign. It had not come to him yet, but he was sure if he could just gather the right inspiration, he would have a rather exciting plan waiting in the back of his mind that would require immediate action. This year the Marauders were going to attempt the never before attempted and, of course, record the results, as it was all for scientific purposes if you wrote it all down.

Sirius now arrived at the Marauders compartment, and found it empty, apart from the cases of James and Remus, the owners of which seemed to be nowhere in sight. This was natural for these two, as Remus had prefect duty for the first hour of the train ride, and James needed someone to witness his arrival onto the train. Peter was probably just late. 

He safely stored his bag overhead. Sirius could have just simply waited for Peter and James to return, however, just as he was beginning to settle in and think of the shenanigans they could all get up to while on the train, his plans were thwarted by a very loud bang, followed by a dull and unfortunate sounding thud that came from just a little way up the hallway. Sirius paused, wondering whether it might be better to stay inside and avoid any potential rogue spells, or to go out and pick a side to cheer on. Sirius being Sirius, he dashed over to the compartment door, and pulled open just in time to see Severus Snape getting to his feet and firing a vomiting spell at James Potter.

The feeling of blind excitement swept through Sirius. He was, certainly, concerned for the safety of James, but a fight when it was not yet even the first day of school, meant this school year could only lead to greatness. Not to mention this was James Potter, who almost always was in need of a hex to the face just to keep him humble. He did wonder where Snape got off on this war path, surely the constant battles that he was only ever on the losing side of, it being one against four (or five, depending on whether Lily Evans was angrier with James or Snape that day) But then again, Sirius hadn’t been planning on waiting too long before letting rip the acts of chaos.

Sirius wanted to help out his friend, but found himself forced out of the way, as a group of Slytherin sixth-years came barging out of the compartment opposite the Marauders. Sirius was thrown backwards in a dangerous manner that nearly knocked him over as the train began to move out of the station at just the same time. Not necessarily graceful, but Sirius considered himself lucky that there had been no one there to see. Remus would have bullied him mercilessly no doubt.

Without the added burden of having to overcome a social embarrassment as well, Sirius got up and gathered himself relatively quickly. With a few strokes down the front of his shirt he smoothed out any creases from the fall, a dramatic flick of the head allowed for his hair to fall perfectly back into place in a way that he hoped meant any girls watching saw it in slow motion, and he elevated his wand to the level of the boys that stood in between him and helping out his best mate.

“Stupify!”

The cry rang out with such purpose that the entire gaggle of Slytherins was flung apart, the boys flying and landing willy-nilly about the train carriage as Sirius stepped over the carnage towards where James had stood vomiting the slugs. Sirius was actually rather impressed to see that his stunning spell had been strong enough to knock Snape down too. He was fairly pleased with himself and decided he was deserving of some praise for this feat, he should find Peter later and get him to offer compliments as a reconciliation for not being present to defend the honour of James. As Sirius Black stood over a stunned Severus Snape, he looked up to see Remus standing next to Lily Evans. As he saw the two of them standing there, he felt a few things; overjoyed that Lily had been able to witness James vomiting slugs, warm and happy that Remus was here ok after the full moon, and then concerned, as Remus appeared sad or scared and Lily, furious.

There had been very few occasions where he had seen those same two expressions pinned side-by-side, but each and every time had been for the same kind of circumstance. Therefore, he felt no remorse as he raised a fist with no wand clutched there, and punched Snape into another fucking dimension.

“Dear god, stop fucking with my mates, it is so frustrating having to put you in your place every single time” Sirius adjusted the cuffs on his sleeves and winked at Remus, who still looked rather hurt. He would have to speak to him later, a group Marauders meeting, just to make sure they didn’t have to beat some self-confidence into Remus too.

“Sirius!” James cried out from a compartment doorway, he lifted his arms out for a hug with an expression on his face much like a doting mother watching her child win a contest, “that was beautiful! Come here!” He grabbed Sirius in a hug and planted a huge kiss on his cheek, taking extra care to make certain it was as disgusting for Sirius as was possible.

“The pleasure’s all mine, James, it was wonderful to watch you hack up a bunch of slugs” James drew away from the hug and gave a short bow for his performance of vomiting. The moment of glory was broken apart by a yell of anger coming from across the carriage.

“Sirius Black!” James and Sirius both whipped around as the only person that could possibly strike any fear into them began to unleash her wrath. Lily Evans was nearly the colour of her own hair and was furiously storming towards them.

“Just what in the bloody hell do you think you are doing!? That spell threw them all about the carriage! Do you know the kind of damage that could have done? And punching Severus? Really! What is wrong with you?!”

Trying to disguise his feelings of slight embarrassment for perhaps overdoing this one just a bit, Sirius straightened up and looked about at the groaning Slytherin boys that were slowly gathering themselves back to standing. “Honestly Lily I think what’s wrong with me is that I simply don’t know my own strength, I’m like Hogwarts’ own personal Superman, it’s not my fault you see”

Lily looked like she was about to strangle him. But before she could get the chance, Severus, and the rest of the Slytherins, managed to get to their feet and seemed to be rounding on Sirius and James for something of a rematch. This was a helpful distraction for the Marauders, as Lily then turned to face Severus with her anger, and they all watched as the fury in the boy’s face quickly turned to icy fear.

“And _you_ -” Lily was several inches shorter than Severus, but he seemed to shrink under her wrath, “If I so much as believe you have said another derogatory word to me or any one of my friends, believe me, I will find my way into your dormitory and boil your bloody skin off”

“Jesus Evans,” Proclaimed Sirius, rather impressed by her intense threat, “rather harsh don’t you think?”

She scowled at him, and turned back along the passage way to look at Remus, “Let’s get to the prefects’ cabin, _now_.”

He nodded rather feebly and followed in her red-haired wake, glancing quickly over his shoulder at James and Sirius as if to offer them a look of apology that he would not be joining them until later. James saluted him and Sirius shot him a smirk before they turned back to Snape. The group of Slytherins seemed rather shaken, unsure of what to do now that Severus had received such a severe telling-off. James and Sirius readied themselves for a round two, pulling out their wands and balancing their weight across their feet, waiting for who would be the first to strike. But the Slytherins had other ideas.

“Let’s wait, hey Severus?” A short and wiry Slytherin called Victor Avery called out, “We find Professor Slughorn, and they’ll be cleaning out his store rooms until Christmas”

The other Slytherins looked rather excited by this idea and began to loosen up, looks of triumph running across their faces. Snape’s expression did not change. “Watch yourself, Potter” He spat in James’ face, paying no attention to the wand which was poking into his chest, “I’m not going to sit back and let you get away with any of your stunts this year”

James raised his eyebrows and gave him an amused smirk, “I’m quaking in my boots” He glanced at Sirius, “I don’t know what were possibly going to do to combat this, I mean- a _detention_?!” He feigned a look of horror at the thought of what was now a regular occurrence for the Marauders, except for Remus, of course, who always managed to blame the others for his own misdeeds.

“We’ve never had a detention before!” Exclaimed Sirius, “Oh hold me James! I’m frightened! Our reputations of being good children will be forever tainted!” Sirius threw himself into James’ arms, and the other boy caught him, fanning him with his hand. Snape made a noise that sounded like a growl, but decided there was nothing better to do and slinked off to join the other Slytherins back in their compartment. Once they were relatively out of sight, James stood up and dropped Sirius who went crashing to the floor.

“God they’re a bunch of idiots aren’t they” Said James, raking a hand through his hair to ruffle it up in his perfected, wind-swept manner.

“Oh, and you’re one to talk are you?” Sirius chided, as he picked himself up with an angry grunt and elbowed James in the ribs, “let’s get to our seats shall we?”

They both made their way into the Marauders usual compartment where they, and Remus had already stowed their baggage. Peter was still nowhere to be seen, and the train was well away from the platform now, both of the boys exchanged nervous glances, but settled back to discuss the prior fight.

“So, what started that kerfuffle?” asked Sirius, stretching his legs out across the seats so he reached across to the other side of the compartment. James did the same but purposely put his feet up on the wall just to prove he was taller than Sirius.

“Not certain, but I’ll take a wild guess and peg it on Snivellius using some kind of wolf-centric slur to refer to Moony, Remus said he’s been bringing up wolves and werewolves a lot since last Christmas, seems to be figuring things out,’

“And he jinxed Snape? That’s not like him to pick a fight over his condition”

“Oh no no no, _Lily_ jinxed Snape, it was truly a glorious moment, you should have seen it Siri, the little git went flying, and just as he was attempting to make nice with Evans again, he really shot himself in the foot there, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen” He feigned wiping away a tear and then smiled gleefully out the window.

Sirius gave a small smile but his stomach sank at the same time. “Is he going to mention it to anyone?”

“Snape? I don’t know if anyone would listen to him, not about us anyway, everyone seems to be on the same page about how obsessed he is with turning the world against us, he’s lied about us before, why wouldn’t he be doing it again?”

Sirius nodded slowly, not really liking the strength of this line of reasoning but needing something reassuring to cling onto. This did make these small victories hard to celebrate. It was virtually impossible to deal with Snape anymore, he was becoming obsessed with the Marauders, especially now the idiot seemed to have just about joined up with the dark forces as a junior Death Eater. Not to mention, if he had indeed decided he knew the truth about Remus’ condition, the verbal abuse Snape hurled at Remus would only get worse. Remus had suffered enough to last anyone about five lifetimes, the last thing he needed was a designated heckler following him in school. But James seemed relatively pleased with Sirius’ and his rambunctious reactions to Snape’s assaults. A warm smile spread across his face, and his eyes went out of focus while the memory of Sirius punching Snape in the face played and replayed through his mind.

Sirius tried his best not to dwell on it for now. But as he turned slightly to the right, he saw directly into the Slytherin compartment where Snape was sitting. The group of them seemed to be having a rather intense discussion; heads pulled together, lips barely moving, eyes forever scurrying about the train. Sirius sat up a bit straighter. That didn’t look trustworthy at all. And given the number of children of Death Eaters that were sitting in that compartment, he couldn’t shake a distinct feeling of unease.

“What?” asked James, as he saw the quizzical look on Sirius’ face, “What're you looking at?”

“Slytherins, they look a bit suspicious, don’t they?”

“Well, what else is new?” James rolled his eyes, but sat up straighter as well and craned his neck to attempt to read their lips across the train.

As Sirius and James tried their very best to look into the other compartment, Snape caught their eye. All the Slytherins immediately ceased talking and turned to look at the two boys across from them, disgust etched into their faces. In that moment, all involved in the staring contest were likely preparing for another outburst of duelling, but something rather unusual happened that swayed the course of action in an entirely unexpected direction.

One of the Slytherins glanced towards their feet for only the briefest of moments, and appeared to see something that struck them with fear, as their expression changed to horror and they sprung from their seat to stand on it as far away from the floor as they could manage. The rest of the compartment turned to look, and soon it was full of screams, yelps and teenage boys hopping around like lunatics.

James and Sirius looked at each other with smiles so big it was as though Christmas had come early. They jumped up and pressed their noses against the window, cackling with laughter, and eager to watch the events unfold.

Soon, spells were being shot around the neighbouring compartment, but they seemed to be missing horrendously, as many of the other boys fell victim to their friends’ jinxes and hexes. Eventually, they all seemed to realise they were fighting a losing battle, so they carried their injured and jumped ship, surrendering the compartment to whatever invisible monster had tormented them.

Watching the Slytherins making a fool of themselves was the best thing Sirius had seen since last school year had ended, it just about made up for all the horrors he had endured at his parents’ house, and he was beginning to feel the usual happiness that Hogwarts brought with it. James was roaring with laughter, slapping the seat next to him as a way of letting out his pure joy. Wiping some tears of laughter out of his eyes, James managed to somewhat pull himself together for long enough to get out; “What do you think-”

Sirius had no response for him, but was saved needing to reply as the sound of tiny scratches at the bottom of the compartment door distracted them both. James looked confused and slightly concerned, but Sirius now knew what the fuss in the Slytherin compartment had been about, so he opened the door a couple of inches.

In rolled a slightly dumpy rat, with a small patch of blond at the top of its head, and a wriggly, worm-like tail.

Sirius shut the door after it, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed, into a slightly dumpy boy, with watery eyes, two slightly larger front teeth, and a mop of strawberry blonde hair at the top of his head.

*******

_Peter_

Peter Pettigrew had had a very ordinary summer.

His father had been redoing the garden, his mother had wanted his help repainting the living room, and he had had nothing to do except wait for the other Marauders to invite him back to one of their houses for some reason or another.

But all of the visits had been to the Potter’s estate and the neighbouring muggle village, and all to help James’ flirting skills so as to more easily win over Lily Evans. Now, a couple years back Peter wouldn’t have minded this, but he was wondering if things like this were becoming a bit of a bore. Remus never participated, although Remus seemed to be the only member of the Marauders who, while he wasn’t as naturally gifted as James and Sirius in most magical abilities, was able maintain at least half a braincell that allowed him to be above their more stupid activities. Peter didn’t feel he had the grounds to turn down a job set to him by Sirius or James. Perhaps he did, in earnest he had never actually tried, but this was for good reason; he felt as though, if he began to live so much outside of what they wanted him to do, he did not have the brains, or skill, or unique qualities to allow him to continue to be a part of the group. It seemed the only reason he was here was to act as a pawn to James and Sirius.

This might have seemed slightly hurtful, but Peter didn’t take it so much as that, as he supposed while it was a lesser role in the group, it was a vital one nonetheless. Remus was the brains, Sirius and James were the charm and the talent, and Peter was the henchman, the sidekick, he was just the body that followed orders. But that was fine. They needed someone who followed orders, Remus wouldn’t do what the others say, and Sirius won’t do what James said, James would probably do what anyone said, but only because he was a bit of an idiot, there needed to be someone who always did as he was told, and that was Peter. And that was fine.

But this summer, he had helped Sirius and James hone in on James’ flirting skills, and had felt, for the first time, a pang of jealousy. He had always been glad to be included, but now he wanted, just a little bit more than that. He had never had a girl who was interested in him. It had almost become a running joke amongst the group. But James was adored by most who hadn’t spoken to him, Sirius was Hogwarts’ ‘it’ boy when it came to, well, everyone who might have been into guys, and even Remus, although admittedly more dorky and awkward than James and Sirius, was quite popular amongst the ‘library regulars’ as he possessed a slightly ‘quirky charm’, as Sirius called it. Peter, it seemed, was no one’s type. It had been funny at first, but now, he just wanted someone to feel something about him that didn’t relate to him being a part of this group of friends. He wanted to be a person in his own right, not just James and Sirius’ friend. He needed to establish himself, but he wasn’t sure how to do it, all he knew was that change had to happen, and it had to happen now.

His parents drove him in a muggle car to Kings Cross Station, where they found a parking spot, nearly crashed, as his mother had only passed her test because she may or may not have confunded the invigilator, and wound their way through crowds of muggles until they passed through the invisible barrier onto the platform.

They were running late, the steam was billowing over the parents waving to their children, and Peter could see that there were very few kids left hanging about, most were already on. So, he hastily hugged his father, and let his mother cover him in innumerable kisses, before hauling his case onto the train, and clambering aboard after it. And just in time too, as the door magically swung shut just as he got his foot inside, and the train began to move away from the platform. He leaned out of a window to wave to his parents who were standing, arms around each other, beaming at him with a pride he rarely saw anywhere else. They had spent any time in the summer that wasn’t occupied by garden or living room renovations, discussing Peter’s future plans, and the career that Peter most liked the sound of seemed to really make them proud.

St. Mungo’s had been advertising a new branch of magical healers, who’s job focussed on the development and breeding of magical plants in order to create new magical remedies. Peter’s best subject was herbology, and James’ help in Potions meant he was doing relatively well there too, and those two subjects were most important for this career. When his father showed him the article in the paper, after nearly a month of them looking at different options and realising that he didn’t have the qualifications for them, this came as a welcome surprise. Something Peter thought he could enjoy, and something that he could feasibly achieve. So, this had become a part of his free time over the summer, studying extra charms and transfiguration work in order to help him get those grades up so that he might qualify for his chosen career.

And as he watched his parents faces while he sped out of sight, he thought he might actually be able to do it this year. And then, not only would he have made them proud, he might stand out a bit more, as someone worthy of the friends he had, but a person important in his own right.

As the train lurched out of the station, a loud bang came from down the corridor. Peter jumped and turned around quickly to the direction from which it had come. It was the same direction that the Marauders usual compartment was in.

Worry, mingled with a bit of excitement blew through him, and he forgot his case as he ran to the source of the commotion.

As he turned into the corridor, he found his view blocked by a bunch of sixth-year Slytherins who came crashing out of their compartment to watch whatever it was that had made the loud noise. Thinking fast, Peter transformed into his Animagus; a rat, and scurried through the Slytherins’ feet, unnoticed by them, as they were too caught up in the action, and he hurried into their empty compartment.

Still a rat, he scrambled up onto the bench and peered through the glass on the inside wall, where he could just about see what all the fuss was about. Lily Evans was standing next to Remus, looking furious while he looked terrified, she lowered her wand while he rushed to pull his out of his belt. The victim of Lily’s spell seemed to be Severus Snape, who only just pulled himself up from the floor and shot a spell at James, who was dying with laughter that was cut short as he was forced to hurl up slugs. Peter cringed at the horrible sight, and considered stepping in, but didn’t think he would be able to push his way through the Slytherin boys who were all, admittedly, a lot bigger than him. Luckily, he was saved the guilt of not acting, as Remus cast some sort of spell that removed James’ affliction, and someone, behind them all, blasted every last Slytherin out of the way. This someone, it turned out, was Sirius, and Peter watched as he strolled up, with an enviable kind of swagger, and smacked Snape hard across the side of the face with his hand curled into a fist.

By the end of it all, Peter found himself thoroughly entertained, and was reminded of the many perks that being a friend of James, Sirius and Remus had, and how astronomically they outweighed the downsides. Unfortunately, his moments spent marvelling over his friends’ actions meant that he forgot to notice what the Slytherins were up to. They all picked themselves and each other up, and turned into the compartment Peter was in. He hadn’t realised that this must have been their compartment, and now he was going to be trapped, inside, as a rat.

He scampered off the seat and began running around the floor as they approached, trying to find any kind of hidden area. There was nothing. He was trapped, thinking fast, he clambered back up the seats, over the backrest, and leapt with all his might, just making it onto the trunk rack, and skidding out of sight, all four paws resting rather precariously on the metal bars.

“They’re bloody imbeciles-”

“-doubt they’ve got half a brain between them-”

“-letting the mudblood fight their battles for them-”

“Pathetic.”

Peter heard small snippets of the conversation that was taking place outside of the compartment as they all turned in. They settled down as they made various snide comments about the Marauders and Lily, and very much taking offense to Sirius not using magic to attack Snape. Severus was the last in, there was blood beginning to stream from his nose, and he was pulling his hair over his face to attempt to hide it from the others. The way his eyes glanced between them, Peter could tell he wasn’t comfortable with all of them just yet as he seemed not to know his place, opting to sit out of sight in the corner by the door.

“Snape-” a tall, thin boy with golden blond hair and icy blue eyes turned to face Snape, who had been trying to disappear into the corner. This boy was clearly something of a ring leader, as all other conversation stopped and all heads immediately snapped around to look at Snape who shrivelled under their gaze. “-Why were you trying to talk to that mudblood girl?” The tone was accusing, the boy seemed to already know the answer, essentially all the purpose this question served was attempting to trap Snape into a situation he couldn’t get out of. Force him to prove himself unworthy of the company he took. But Snape raised his head, and shook the hair away from his face so the blood was more visible, as if to show that he could suffer through injury without showing weakness.

“I feel I owe her a debt”

The blond boy raised an eyebrow.

“In the past I had fights with Potter and Black, she took my side, I intend to repay as soon as I can, then I won't feel weighed down by being indebted to a muggleborn”

It seemed an answer that the others weren’t expecting. Intrigue crossed their faces. The blond boy did not seem entirely convinced.

“So, you’re in debt to a mudblood? Rather inconvenient, isn’t it?”

“I won’t be for long”

“I would hope not, things are changing in our world, and you won’t find yourself in school forever. The minute you leave, you’re going to have to pick a side, and its either ours or theirs-”

“I’ve already chosen-”

The blond boy crossed his legs and leaned back in his seat, “Really?” he cocked his head “You’re in debt to a mudblood, do you really think our side would take you?”

“I think I could be of a multitude of help,” Snape leaned forwards, as if to share a secret “over the summer, as I told Avery and Mulciber, I’ve been making-”

He cut off very suddenly, seeming to have caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. Some of the others craned around to look as well. Peter got anxious; he couldn’t see what they could. As quietly as possible he scurried forwards on the shelf, peering around a trunk to see James and Sirius staring at the Slytherins from the neighbouring compartment. At the worst possible moment, Peter felt the train go around a very sharp bend in the tracks. He was thrown to one side, but so were all the trunks. There wasn’t enough room any more, he was going to be crushed. There was only one thing for it: he threw himself over the side of the shelf and right down onto one of the boy’s laps.

There was a moment of pause, then all hell broke loose.

Spells were being shot every which way. They bounced off the walls and hit other Slytherins, they hit each other dead on. Peter fell off the boy’s lap and was sent scurrying desperately between feet, doing everything within his power to not get crushed. They were stepping on each other, shoving and kicking and scratching, pushing and pulling until the entire compartment was a haze of scrapes, bruises, hexes and jinxes. When someone finally had the sense to open the door, they all went crashing out of the compartment, surrendering their territory over to Peter.

Peter, still a rat, had been thrown backwards. He was lying on his back, tail lying out straight with all four paws in the air and his head propped up against the wall. It took him several moments to catch his breath. That had been an ordeal. But perhaps, worth it? James and Sirius were just one compartment over, surely they would have seen what happened and realise Peter was deserving of some praise for managing to, not only spy on the Slytherins, but also scare them shitless!

Full of excitement, Peter wriggled around until he was back on all fours, and scurried across the corridor to the marauder’s compartment. He stood up on his hind legs and scratched rapidly at the wood panel along the bottom of the door, until someone slid it open for him and he tumbled in.

The door was pushed closed behind him, so, figuring it would be relatively safe, Peter scrunched his face up as tight as he could, tensing all his muscles until he heard the tell-tale ‘pop!’ indicating his success.

A boy once more, Peter straightened up and turned around to look at Sirius and James as they sat waiting for him.

“Wormy!” Cried James, leaping to his feet and pulling him into a tight hug that lifted Peter off his feet. James let go of his hug, but put two hands on either of Peter’s cheeks, grasping his face rather tightly that Peter reached up to try and pry him off, “That was absolutely spectacular!” James was not one to be deterred, and planted a kiss on Peter’s forehead before releasing him from his grasp.

Peter stumbled backwards awkwardly, but was caught by Sirius clapping him so hard on the back he felt it might bruise. He spun him around and held him by the shoulders at arm’s length so he could look into his eyes. “Excellent! truly superior execution” He pulled Peter in for a hug too and wrapped his arms around his head, smothering him just a little. Peter still wasn’t quite used to James and Sirius’ more forceful displays of affection. But he was finally released, and told to stay standing in the centre of the compartment while he gave the other two a blow-by-blow of the act of scaring the Slytherins.

Already, Peter could feel a warmth spreading through his chest as he stood there, being admired by two of his best friends. It seemed his plan to gain a bit more gravitas and respect within the school might already be taking effect, at least, if two of the most popular boys in the school were in awe of him before they had even arrived at Hogwarts, then surely a more unanimous form of praise would soon follow. Peter could only hope.

He finished the story with many embellishments about how craftily he dodged the spells, or how he had been personally offended by their use of a slur to refer to Lily Evans, and how he had therefore purposely meant to scare them as a form of punishment for their words. All-in-all, James seemed close to tears of joy and pride, which was enough to suggest to Peter that he had done well. He sat down feeling rather pleased with himself, his chest puffed out with pride and a beaming smile not yet gone from his face. James threw an arm over his shoulders and pulled him into his chest, ruffling his hair in an adoring manner. Sirius, However, looked thoughtful.

“They were talking about sides?” He asked quietly. It was very rare for Sirius to look so, well, serious. In fact, Peter had perhaps only seen this expression upon Sirius’ face in one of two occasions; any point in which Remus was in danger or hurt because of his lycanthropy, and whenever there was some kind of mention of his family.

“That’s right” Peter replied, rather cautiously, and throwing James off of him, “they didn’t like the idea of Snape being in any kind of contact with Lily, given she’s-”

“-muggleborn, yeah” Sirius’ expression darkened,

“So what?” Asked James, “They’re already death eaters? Not even left school and they’ve been recruited?”

“Looks like it doesn’t it?” Sirius tossed his hair away from his face with a graceful flick of the wrist.

“But that’s a bit crazy, isn’t it?” James inquired, “Look, I’m not saying this is any less serious, but how much are they actually planning on doing while they’re in school? And under Dumbledore’s nose too- it would get them and their parents thrown in Azkaban without a trial, no questions asked”

“Ok, sure, but everyone knows everything about everyone at school, so who’s to say they aren’t acting like little spies for their parents? Picking up on hints of information, I’m sure that this kind of early influencing is important”

James shrugged, “they’re kids,”

“They’re older than you” Sirius pointed out,

“I’ve kicked their arses before-”

“Come on James! You know this isn’t good!”

James sighed and slunk down in his seat, nuzzling his nose and mouth under his collar like a turtle trying his best to slide back into a shell. Peter frowned and looked back at the two of them, Sirius giving James a horrified glare and James trying his best not to look at anything but the floor. Peter couldn’t help but feel upset that neither of them seemed to recall his amazing act of bravery from just moments earlier.

Finally, James’ muffled voice peeped out from inside his jumper, “Of course I know this is awful, and yeah, we should probably tell McGonagall, or Dumbledore, or whoever, I just-” He pulled his face out from inside his clothing, “I had just hoped that we could be ordinary again, for the last few years of school before we had to start worrying about which ones of the people around us were planning a murder”

Sirius folded his arms over his chest and crossed his legs. He looked over to the window as the train sped through the English countryside, far away from Kings Cross. His eyes glazed over as the trees and hills rolled past.

“I just think- I don’t know what Regulus is doing-”

Peter inhaled probably a bit too sharply. It was common knowledge amongst the Marauders that Sirius’ bother Regulus was someone very much at risk of joining the Death Eaters. Sirius’ parents enjoyed the ways of dark magic and revelled in their blood status. Naturally they would have been an obvious choice for members, but they found themselves aware of the dangers, and for the sake of self-preservation, never themselves became a part. Regulus was being encouraged on every side. His parents thought of the idea of having a real death eater as a direct descendant of the blacks to be something worthy of praise, and so seemed to be prodding him, rather forcefully towards everyone and everything that could corrupt him. Sirius appeared to be the only person in his life that wanted something else for Regulus. The others had all met him, and Peter agreed with them, Regulus was not a death eater at heart, the only thing that would send him towards such a decrepit path was this blatant enforcement of the idea that the torturing of muggles was inherently a good act, bettering the community of wizards as a whole.

Sirius sat there, staring out the window with his brow furrowed so tightly it looked as though his eyebrows were trying to tie themselves together. “I don’t know what I’ll do if Regulus loses his mind too, I’m already surrounded by lunatics, he’s the only normal person in that house-”

“You’re overreacting Siri” James cut in, running a hand up through Sirius’ hair and ruffling it up, “You’re just worried and jumping to conclusions, your parents aren’t even Death Eaters, and you think your baby brother is one?”

“He’s been so different lately, barely speaking to me at the end of the year, I didn’t want to think this was what was happening”

“It’s probably not-” James propped his feet up the wall again, a part of him looking concerned, but clearly trying to hide it so as to not worry Sirius any more.

“Yeah, Sirius, don’t worry about it, you know how clever Regulus is, he’s not about to become an idiot all of a sudden and drop to offing people!” Peter sat up straighter in his seat and prodded Sirius with his foot, “we’ve got bigger things to worry about anyways!” Sirius rubbed his face with a deep sigh. Peter drooped in his seat. His acts of victory were long since forgotten, and he didn’t blame them, but he had hoped that, just this once, they might remember him.

But the moment of tension slid by rather quickly, as the trolly lady popped her head around the compartment door, “Anything from the trolly dears?”

Peter’s head snapped up when the trolly lady came around the door, her arrival reminded him of several things that had been keeping his spirits up before his arrival on the train; his delightful plan for this train trip.

“Yes, thank you!” Sirius leapt to his feet and began to draw some money out of his pockets, “One pack of Bertie Bott's, a Wonka bar of milk chocolate, about… ten chocolate frogs, and…” He turned around, “Remus likes the quills, doesn’t he?” The other Marauder’s nodded, “let’s say two sugar quills then, thanks so much,”

“Stocking up, are you?” She asked with a sweet smile and a croaky old voice as she pulled out the requested treats and began loading them into a small, striped paper bag.

“They’re for our prefect friend, he always misses you while he’s in the prefects’ cabin and I know how much he’d like the frogs and such”

“Well, aren’t you a sweetheart!” she gave him a kind-hearted pinch on the cheek, which Sirius tried not to cringe away from, before he thanked her and waved her off. He sat back down as James and Peter collected their choices of sweets, and soon all three of them sat, happily snacking away off of the mountains of chocolate they had collected between them.

There was a fleeting moment of reflection as Peter sat in the silence in the compartment. He wanted to wreak havoc, but suddenly he worried that this might be too much for right now. With Regulus on the verge of running to the dark side, perhaps a big commotion on the train would be too much and push the brother’s apart? And what about Remus? Fresh off a full moon, would he be up to it? But as Peter sat there, looking at the expressions on the faces of James and Sirius, he felt they might just need this. He might just need this; a little bit of recognition, to be brave and stand out.

“Hey guys,” Peter began, uncertainly, “I don’t know if this is stupid, but I’ve got a plan”

Like the evil geniuses they were, two identical, maniacal grins spread across the faces of Sirius and James as they leaned in to listen, for once, to what Peter had to say.


End file.
